


city veins

by bluedesert



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Airports, Based on a True Story, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, its not that deep but maybe a little deep, making out in the backseat of a cab
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24712261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedesert/pseuds/bluedesert
Summary: Donghyuck's flight gets cancelled, but he gets free pizza and a kiss instead, so it's not that bad.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 12
Kudos: 144





	city veins

Airports always seem like they exist in a parallel universe. Like Donghyuck isn't actually in Chicago right now, in the state of Illinois, in the USA, but on some distant planet where every single airport exists and people wear socks with sandals and argue with their family. Donghyuck is traveling alone, so there’s no one to argue with (yet) but he is sporting his adidas slippers with neon green socks and the biggest baggiest hoodie he owns. He feels kind of dirty, covered in grime that has settled like a fourth layer of skin. He also really has to pee but is hoping he can convince his body out of it instead of using the public bathrooms and giving up his seat in the packed gate waiting area. 

From this spot he has a good view of the flight attendants with their tacky uniforms and can watch their mounting stress as whatever needs to happen behind the scenes to get the plane in the sky breaks down in some way. He’s not surprised, or too worried about it to be honest, because flying out of O’Hare comes with a guaranteed flight delay.

He also particularly likes this seat because of Suit Guy right next to him. Whoever decides to wear a fancy ass suit and do their hair for the _airport_ has to be some kind of idiot, but this guy is hot enough to look past that. Suit Guy sits with his long legs uncomfortably crossed, trying to take up less space without looking like he actually wants to appear smaller. He’s been eyeing the flight attendants too, but with significantly more concern. Probably used to things being handed to him on a silver platter, Donghyuck thinks scathingly while simultaneously checking out the guy’s thick thighs.

Donghyuck is playing piano tiles on his phone when Suit Guy taps him on his shoulder. He whirls around a bit too quickly, mostly because he had felt Suit Guy glance at him a couple times in hesitation and was waiting for him to say something.

“Yes?” Donghyuck says.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” Suit Guy starts off politely, “am I at the right gate?”

He shows Donghyuck his boarding pass. The first thing he looks for is a name. Johnny Seo. He tucks that information away and checks the destination— New York— and the flight number, which is the same as the one on his own boarding pass.

“Yeah that’s right,” Donghyuck says. Their gate had been changed 30 minutes before, but this is the right one.

“Shouldn’t we have started boarding?” Johnny asks.

Donghyuck checks his phone. It’s 8:07pm. The plane is meant to take off at 8:15pm.

“Have you never been to O’Hare before?” he asks.

“Not for a few years.”

“Oh dude,” Donghyuck cackles, “we’re not getting out of here by 8:15. In fact, we could be here all night. You might wanna make yourself comfortable in that chair. Can you fall asleep sitting down?”

Johnny looks at him in horror for a moment, then his expression clears up. “You‘re messing with me, aren’t you.”

“Kind of. O’Hare totally sucks though, you should expect a delay.”

Johnny runs a hand down his face and sighs. “Okay. Sorry, I’m kind of out of it. I just flew in from London and have no idea what time or what day it is.”

He’s already been flying for hours? How does his suit manage to look so impeccable? And he must have touched up his hair at some point. Donghyuck looks down at his bright green-clad feet and then at Johnny’s shiny dress shoes. 

“Is New York your final destination?” he asks.

“Yeah, I’m staying there for a week for some business meetings. How about you?” 

“I’m just going for the weekend to visit a friend. I go to school there, but I’m in Chicago for a summer internship.”

Johnny surprises him by twisting in his seat to talk at a less awkward angle and continuing the conversation. “What do you study?” 

“Dance,” Donghyuck says, “where do you work?”

“I run a sustainability think tank,” Johnny answers easily, which Donghyuck immediately translates to mean that he is both a CEO and environmentally friendly. How sexy of him. 

“Is it based in London?” 

“No, I’m actually based in Seoul,” Johnny says, “but we’re thinking of expanding into a few major cities in the US as well.”

“Seoul! I’m moving there after I graduate,” Donghyuck exclaims. Seoul has been on his mind for the last few weeks, as he had spent the majority of the summer agonizing over the decision to move. The job offer he had was with a great company, and he was lucky just to be accepted. But moving to Seoul meant leaving New York, leaving his friends and family, and heading off into a new city that was familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Mark already has a three page long google doc of links he’s compiled in preparation to Donghyuck’s move. It would be endearing if he hadn’t tried to get Donghyuck to memorize the entire subway system for “preparedness.” 

Johnny perks up a bit. “That’s awesome. Have you ever been there before?” 

“A long time ago. When I was a kid.”

“Seoul is a great city, you’ll enjoy it,” Johnny says earnestly. 

“Are you from Seoul?” Donghyuck asks.

“Actually I’m from Chicago, but I haven’t been back for a long time.” Johnny’s gaze falls to the floor and Donghyuck narrows his eyes at Johnny’s sudden sheepishness. 

“Do you still have family here?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Johnny admits, “I really wanted to see them between business trips, but there was no time.” 

Johnny looks like he’s admitting to killing someone. He seems pretty torn up about his inability to be a filial son. He puts a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “I’m sure they understand.”

“They definitely do. Sometimes I wish they wouldn’t though— is that weird?” 

“You think you don’t deserve their understanding?” 

“Maybe? I—” Johnny cuts himself off with a laugh. “Sorry, I don’t usually try to have a full on therapy session with strangers in airports.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Donghyuck says, finally taking his hand off Johnny’s shoulder, “you probably just sensed my innate wisdom and felt the need to open up.”

Johnny gives him a grateful smile for lightening the mood. The conversation flows easily from there, the kind of small talk that Donghyuck actually enjoys. Johnny is a good conversationalist, and despite how tired he is, he manages to keep up with Donghyuck’s pace. He seems genuinely interested in student life in New York, curious about contemporary dance, and impressed by Donghyuck’s internship. It’s a good feeling.

Their little two-seat bubble is abruptly burst by an announcement over the PA system. “Calling all passengers of flight AA6274 to New York. Due to weather concerns, the flight has been cancelled.” Everyone around them starts complaining, a line quickly forms by the gate agents, and the person over the PA system spews some bullshit apologies and tells them to look for a flight tomorrow.

“ _Cancelled_?” Johnny says in disbelief, “I have a meeting with investors tomorrow morning!” 

“Don’t worry Mr. CEO, we’ll get you to New York tonight, just follow me,” Donghyuck says. He and Johnny make their way up to the gate agent’s desk, elbowing quite a few people in the way and gaining a couple well-deserved glares. Luckily, Johnny looks big and important, and Donghyuck knows how to handle angry New Yorkers looking to get onto a flight home, so they reach the desk in no time.

“Hi, when is your next flight to New York?” Donghyuck asks sternly. He pushes up his sweatshirt sleeves that fall down to the tips of his fingers. 

“I’m sorry, our flights are fully booked. As we said, you should try to change your flight to one tomorrow,” the gate agent says. Donghyuck stops himself from rolling his eyes while Johnny’s shoulders sag at his side. He offers the gate agent a smile— she may be talking shit but she’s probably had a lot of stressed out people yell at her today, and Donghyuck’s not a monster. Still, he knows how this game works and he’s not in the mood to play.

“I know you have another flight leaving for New York tonight. I’d like you to put us on the waitlist.” 

“There’s one in three hours but, as I said, it’s fully booked and—”

“Great. Please put our names on the waitlist,” Donghyuck says again and elbows at Johnny.

“Huh? Oh yeah, the waitlist,” Johnny says feebly, offering Donghyuck a _what do you want me to do?_ look. 

The gate agent sighs and extends her hand. “Passports please,” she says. Donghyuck hands over his passport with a victorious grin. He learned pretty early on that you can get anything if you ask, and if you don’t get it the first time, you just have to be really annoying about it until you do. It takes a lot of skill. He and Johnny walk away from the clamour of people yelling at the gate agents and asking about empty flights.

“Why would they cancel this flight if there’s another one in three hours? Do you think we’ll really get onto the next one? Why would they tell people to just change their flights to tomorrow?” Johnny asks in quick succession. 

“Ah, to be so young and innocent,” Donghyuck says airly, “but don’t worry, there’s a very good chance we’ll make it onto the next flight. Airports abide by no logical rules known to man, so you just have to ignore what everyone else tells you to do and figure out what you actually need to do yourself.”

Johnny laughs a little. “You’re something else.” 

Donghyuck preens a little under the compliment. Johnny sure is good at giving those.

“Hey, are you hungry? I can’t remember the last meal I ate, let’s go get food. My treat,” Johnny says suddenly. Donghyuck, as a college student getting an art degree, does not say no to free food on principle, no matter how hungry he actually is. Johnny leads them down the wide, bustling hallways. Donghyuck’s duffle bag hangs between them awkwardly, so he discreetly moves it to his other shoulder so that he can not-so-discreetly brush his arm against Johnny’s as they walk. Johnny doesn’t pull away, just continues searching for good food while their hands accidentally touch a few too many times. 

Unfortunately, Johnny chooses to get domino’s pizza, which considering the probable cost of Johnny’s suit is way below his paygrade, meaning way below the fancy meal Donghyuck had dreamed of getting treated to. But he quickly puts that thought away when Johnny buys them a bunch of pizza and a coke each, easily appeased by anything with bread and cheese. They both scarf down their meals, Johnny probably starving after his long flight and Donghyuck chewing rapidly to catch up. 

“So,” Johnny begins around a mouthful of pizza, which should be grosser than it is, “are you excited to go to Seoul?”

“Yeah,” Donghyuck says immediately, because he gets the question a lot. He hesitates. “I’m kinda nervous though.”

Johnny takes a sip of coke and tilts his head, waiting for Donghyuck to elaborate. 

“I’ve only ever lived in New York. So I’m kinda nervous about going somewhere new for the first time, without a real support system. I’m sure you’re used to hopping around big cities,” Donghyuck says, usually not one to admit this kind of stuff, but it’s not like he’ll ever see Johnny again, so whatever. 

“Moving somewhere new is scary. But it’s not like you’re losing a support system— your friends and family don’t disappear when you’re not in the same place as them. Their support will move with you,” Johnny says. Donghyuck sips on his straw, considering. 

“Going to a new city is something to be scared of, but it’s also really exciting. Have you heard about a city’s ‘heartbeat’”? 

Donghyuck shakes his head.

“Basically, you can think of a city’s transportation system as a blood circulation system. It brings people to the essential organs of the city— think of downtown areas— and then outwards to wherever they need to go. If you map people’s commutes, with enough data, you can actually see the city’s pulse. Like a heartbeat,” he says, then takes another bite of pizza. Donghyuck smiles a little, imagining the subway map making little _ba-dum_ noises. 

“Anyway, what I mean to say is that even if you’re by yourself in an unfamiliar city, if you know how to listen, the city itself is its own organism with its own beating heart. So you’re never really alone.” 

“Huh. That’s pretty deep.” 

Johnny lets out a surprise laugh. “Yeah, sorry. I can get like that sometimes.”

“Didn’t think that you’d be more than a pretty face in a suit.”

“You think my face is pretty?” Johnny asks, fluttering his eyelashes and far from offended. 

“Nah,” Donghyuck drawls, which earns him a soft kick in his shin under the table. Johnny’s fancy shoe stays pressed against Donghyuck’s socked feet in consolation. The remainder of the time goes quickly, joking and teasing as Donghyuck trying to get Johnny to spill coke on his expensive suit. 

Eventually they meander to the gate for their flight. The names of people on the waitlist are displayed on the screen, a green checkmark signifying that there’s space for them. The little green check makes its way down the list, and Donghyuck keeps his eyes trained on his and Johnny's names, numbers seven and eight respectively. As soon as a green checkmark appears on both their names, Johnny cheers and lifts him up, circling him around like they just won the lottery. His energy rubs off on Donghyuck who joins in on the loud celebration, despite the disgruntled looks they get from everyone around them. They giggle loudly while going up the the desk agent and smugly getting their boarding passes.

Johnny’s boarding group is called first, and suddenly Donghyuck is faced with a goodbye he didn’t realize was coming. Luckily, Johnny keeps it easy and awkward-free. “Find me once the plane lands,” he says quickly, trailing a hand down Donghyuck’s arm for a brief moment, then he’s gone. 

Donghyuck puts on his headphones and turns the music on loud to keep him from thinking too deeply about anything, but quiet enough so he can still hear the announcement letting his boarding group onto the plane. He makes it to his seat (a window seat!) and watches the plane take off, the veins of Chicago’s busy streets coming into view for a moment then vanishing when the plane goes high enough. He listens to his downloaded playlist, closing his eyes, not awake but not quite asleep. 

The plane lands a few hours later, the lights going bright, and Donghyuck waits impatiently as the other passengers sluggishly make their way off the plane, tugging small suitcases behind them. And there, blinking sleep out of his eyes and looking perfectly ruffled, is Johnny.

“Welcome to New York,” Donghyuck says, watching the way the fluorescent lights bounce off Johnny’s hair. Everything around him feels alien, from the ugly carpeting to the stream of strangers heading towards the exit. Johnny gives him a small smile. Donghyuck notes that his lips are a little chapped.

He feels much better when they’re out of the airport, the smell of gasoline pervasive as taxis and ubers stop by to pick up passengers to take them home. Johnny seems to be waking up too, walking with less of a slouch. 

“Where are you going?” Johnny asks.

“Manhattan,” Donghyuck answers. 

“Me too. Wanna split a ride?” 

Donghyuck nods eagerly and they slip into a taxi together. He wonders if he should be getting into a car with a near-stranger, but he’s done worse things and been fine, so he throws the concern away. Johnny is heading to midtown, probably to some fancy hotel, while Donghyuck is headed farther downtown to the neon lights and older buildings of the east village. 

In the darkness of the cab, their knees pressed together, the soft music coming from the radio, everything feels different. The lack of sleep and general disorientation that comes with travel makes him feel like this car and the world outside sit on two different planes of existence.

Donghyuck inches closer to Johnny and forgets about the remnants of the plane that stick to his clothes. Johnny places his hand in the space between them. He places his hand on top of Johnny’s. He isn’t looking at Johnny, but watching the world fly by through the window. New York’s skyline makes its way into view, a wave of buildings that goes up and down, and up and down. It’s a calming, familiar sight. Johnny runs a hand over his knuckles. 

He doesn’t know who turns first, but suddenly they’re in each other's space, pressed close together. He lets his fingers trace lightly up and down Johnny’s arm. Johnny breathes against his mouth for a second, and then they’re kissing. He moves away for a moment, licking his lips, and then he pulls Johnny close again by his suit lapels. 

The rest of the cab ride passes quickly, Donghyuck forgetting what city he’s in as he presses Johnny against the backseat, exploring the feeling of warm lips against his own. The kiss never turns desperate, but stays slow, careful, considering. All too soon they are pulling away from each other, staring at Donghyuck’s building. 

“Well, I guess this is me,” Donghyuck says, not moving. 

“Yeah,” Johnny says, dazed eyes still oh his lips. 

“Okay I’m gonna go,” Donghyuck says. He pretends to go for his seatbelt when Johnny finally jumps into action. 

“Wait! Can I, uh, get your number?” 

“Duh,” Donghyuck huffs and pulls out his phone. They exchange numbers and then Donghyuck is stepping out of the cab, duffle bag in hand. He waves awkwardly as the car pulls away from the curb. 

Johnny suddenly sticks his head out of the car like a dog. “Don’t forget! Listen for the heartbeat!” 

“Get some sleep!” Donghyuck yells back, and the cab turns the corner. He sighs, staring up at his small apartment building. His lips tingle but his body begins to tense as it realizes how grimy it feels, how badly he wants to sleep and shower. But before he goes inside, he closes his eyes and listens outside of himself, past his crawling skin and tired eyelids. He hears the distant sound of traffic, the few people who are still milling about, the millions and millions of inhabitants, lying awake in their beds. Johnny, somewhere headed uptown, sitting in one of the many cars on the street, just another passenger. 

**Author's Note:**

> so. this kind of happened to me like two years ago (without the kissing lmao)  
> i befriended a beautiful successful stranger at the airport, our flight got cancelled but we got waitlisted for the next one, and they treated me to pizza and we had Life Talks bc they lived in the same city i was moving to
> 
> anyway i was thinking about that moment, and then also thinking about johnhyuck (as one does) and this baby was born
> 
> talk to me about weird moments with strangers and/or johnhyuck on [twitter](https://twitter.com/_bluedesert_) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/_bluedesert_)


End file.
